Medal of Valor
by chocolate3271
Summary: A attempt on Frank's life at a press conference but due to one officer's bravery Frank lives to see another day but possibly at the cost of the life his officer. Frank must now live with the guilt while working with Danny to try and catch whoever tried to kill him before they try again.
1. Chapter 1

Cameras clicked as the commissioner stood in front of the press. The issue of the day was a high profile NYPD controversy involving an outrage against the commissioner and the NYPD. The chatter from the reporters almost drown out the commissioner. Standing to his right were Baker, Gormley and Garrett. Garrett's attention was on the commissioner and what he was saying. Baker and Gormley were watching the crowd.

While watching the snap of a camera Baker saw something that caught her attention. She identified a man in a cap and blue jacket reach into his coat and pull out something shiny. Not giving herself a moment to think twice she in two short steps placed herself in front of the commissioner as two shots went off.

Frank heard the shot and before he could even react the body of right hand officer had slammed into his own forcing them both to the ground. Panic ensued as everyone pushed for the exit. Frank could hear Gormley barking out commands with his gun raised. He felt his white shirt become soaked. He looked down at Baker whose body was slump over his.

He rolled the unconscious woman off him and was immediately pulled away by Garrett who was trying to get him out of the room. He watched as Gormley kneeled by the fallen detective. His view was cut off when the door swung shut.

Sergeant Gormley kneeled by the fallen detective. Holstering his weapon he put his jacket on the wounds trying to keep pressure rapid bleeding. Baker's breaths were coming out gurgled pushing the blood that filling her lungs out. Gormley's suit was coated in blood as his efforts to try to keep pressure were failing.

The paramedics get there moments later and whisk her away. Gormley watched them go. Once she was out of sight his eyes return to the massive puddle of the detective's body, something shiny caught her eye. He picks it up. He squeezes the object in his hand and went to find his boss.

That moment Gormley's boss was pacing his office. Garrett's effort to calm him had no effect on the commissioner. His pacing was only interrupted when Gormley silently walked in the door. His eyes met Frank's. Frank gut dropped when he saw the massive blood volume on his sergeant.

"I heard the paramedics say that they couldn't find vitals." Gormley tells him.

That was a punch to the gut to Frank. He always thought as Abigail as a daughter to him. Not that he would ever tell Erin that. She was more than his right hand. She was his brain at work. She kept his schedule. Got him whatever he needed. Worked with his sudden schedule changes. When he needed it she would give him advice. He looks over at the two other men in the room.

He always considered Garrett more than just his press chief. He was his go to person. He was his drinking buddy. His secret keeper. The person he considered his best friend. Gormley was new to his department but still invaluable. He noticed Gormley had his fist clenched.

-BB-

When they walked into the hospital waiting room it was already full of cops. Word of the attempted assassination of the commissioner hit airways almost instantly. Frank made his way to the front of the crowd of officers. His sons were at the front of the crowd.

He could tell by the look in their eyes they were looking at him as their father before looking at him as their boss. He could see a glint it fear in youngest son's eyes and a glint of anger in his oldest son's eyes. At first no one spoke. A moment of silence went by before Jamie broke it.

"We're glad you're okay." Jamie says. "Commissioner."

Frank knew that pause in his sentence was a moment of hesitation where his son went from son to officer and was addressing him as his boss.

"Do we know anything yet?" He asks them.

"Not much." Danny says. "She coded in the ambulance and they hadn't gotten her back yet when they got to the ER."

Frank nods and then turns to Garrett.

"Has her husband been notified?" He asks him.

"Yes sir." Garrett tells him. "They're in the chapel."

Frank turns back to Danny.

"You find who did this." He instructs his son.

"I will." Danny states.

With another nod Danny and Jamie went back to their tours. On his way past his father Jamie whispers to him.

"We're glad you're okay, Dad." Jamie whispers that only his father can hear.

-BB-

The wait only seemed to go one for hours. Gormley and Garrett sat on either side of Frank. Garrett stared at the wall ahead of him. His grey eyes full of sadness and worry. Gormley stared at the small metal object in his blood stained hand. He had scrubbed as hard as he could but the blood wouldn't come off.

Frank glances over to Gormley's hand. He identified the small object he was staring at as a lapel pin for the 23 precinct. Frank knew that Baker worked out the 23 as a rookie. He knew that she wore the pin pinned to the inside of her uniform jacket. The small pin now had blood on it and the three and the outside of the circle was broken in half from the impact of the bullet. Gormley kept running his fingers across it.

The rest of Frank's detail was nearby along with the other cops who filled the waiting room. Silence filled the small room. No one was real sure what to say. Most people in the room didn't actually know Baker and those who did knew she was a hell of a cop.

Seated next to Garrett was Abigail's husband and five year old son. The young boy sat quietly playing with a small toy. On top of his head was a uniform hat with a badge on it. The numbers on the badge were 45608. The same numbers that were on Baker's gold shield. Abigail had dropped it when she jumped in front of the bullets. It seemed to bring the boy comfort to wear his mother's hat.

The boy's father was next to him. He had arm around his son. He was fiddling with his wedding ring while he waited. His name was Sean. He was a fellow cop who was working his beat when he heard the call go out over the radio. Many thoughts were bouncing around his mind. The main one being a prayer that Abigail would make it.

The hours of waiting finally ended when a doctor entered the room. Sean approached him.

"She survived surgery which is a good thing however there was massive damage. We were able to repair most of it however her body is still very weak. To take some of the work from her body we placed her on a ventilator to breathe for her. It is unknown right now how long she will need it. I'm afraid that's not all the news however. One of the bullets nicked her spine. We will not if this caused paralysis until she wakes up which may not happen from a while." The surgeon explained.

Upon hearing the news on his wife Sean's knees nearly buckled. He was grabbed by a pair of hands before he fell. He steadied himself on his feet before following the doctor to his wife's room leaving his son with Garrett.

-BB-

Frank had gotten the news from Garrett shortly after Sean did. The news broke his heart. Those bullets were meant for him. Not her. Not the officer at his right hand. She jumped in front of those bullets without hesitation. A knot starts to form in the pit of his stomach.

While Garrett held Abigail's son,who went by Kyle, on his lap Frank and Gormley went to her room. Both men quietly went in the room. Both men's heart broke at what they saw in the bed.

Abigail was so small in the bed. His skin was deathly pale. A long tube connected a blue mask on her face. Her chest rose and fell in a mechanical rhythm. Monitors softly beeped as they monitored Abigail's life functions. Sean saw the commissioner walk in the room and shakily rose to his feet not even trying to hide the tears on his face.

"As you were." Frank said horsley.

Sean sat back down by his wife and took her hand.

"She looks so small." Sean says.

Gormley wordlessly crossed the room to the bed where the ailing detective lay. He takes the lapel pin that meant so much to her and placed it in her other hand. He gently closed her fingers around it.

Frank walked up to the bed next. Tears pricked at his eyes as looked Abigail. He had just been informed Danny may have something. Frank gently pushes a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. He gently placed a kiss on her forehead. He looks up at the ceiling.

"Give her back."


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you got detective?" Frank asks Danny.

Danny had called Frank from TARU. One of the reporters had caught the entire thing on camera. There was just one hitch. The reporter had given it to all the major news outlets. TARU had processed it but there wasn't a good angle of the shooter just of the shooting.

"There isn't a clear shot of the shooter but it's something." Danny said playing the video.

Frank felt a cold hand clutching his heart as watched the footage. He watched as his right hand officer moved just moments before two shots were heard. The icy hand around his heart tightened as he watched the two bullets enter her chest. He takes a deep breath.

"Did you get anything from this?" Frank asks.

"We got the clothes the shooter was wearing." Danny tells him. "We interviewed the other reporters no one saw anything."

Frank takes a deep breath.

"He shot a cop." Frank says. "It's all hands on deck. We find this guy. For Baker."

-BB-

Sergeant Gormley sat outside Abigail's room watching the people going up and down the hallway. He was always fond of Baker. She was a good cop and a hell of a detective. She was always polite to him and was always level headed. Something no man in 1PP was. That included the commissioner. Gormley admired that about her. He was also oddly protective of her. This wasn't to say she couldn't take care of herself. He just didn't want to see the detective hurt in anyway. During the last cop party she was having a drink at the bar when a tipsy detective from her old precinct started hitting on her.

 _Flashback_.

 _Cormac Johnson was a detective Baker once worked with. He had secretly had the hots for since they were rookies. That night at the policemen's galla he had had more than a few and that liquid courage had overcome his better judgement. He had spotted Baker at the bar getting another drink. He staggered over to her._

 _She was so beautiful. Her long blond hair was draped over her shoulders. He tall slender figure perfectly complimented her personality._

 _"Baker." He hiccups._

 _"Oh hi Johnson." She says politely._

 _"Oh god you're hot." He stammers out. "Anyone ever tell you that?"_

 _"My husband tells me all the time." Baker responds. "But thank you for the compliment."_

 _"You know when we were rookies we were a good team. We could still be if you know what I am." He says._

 _"I'm a married woman. Cormac. You know that." She says. "Excuse me."_

 _As she tried to pass him he grabs her by the arm almost spilling her drink._

 _"Let go of me." She said coldly._

 _"Come on Baker." He says his grip not getting any looser._

 _"I said let go!" She exclaimed trying to pull away but his grip had only gotten tighter._

 _The sudden change in the volume of her voice got the attention of Gormley who was standing nearby._

 _He turns around to see Cormac shoving Baker against the wood bar, his lips forcibly being placed on hers. Reacting quickly before Baker could shove him off Gormley had gotten a punch in. The force of Gormley's fist on the detectives face was enough to knock him on his ass._

 _"You touch her again and we're going to have real problems." Gormley tells him._

 _While Cormac slunk away Gormley checked on Baker._

 _"Are you okay, Abigail?" He asks gently._

 _"Yeah. I could of handled it myself." The blond detective tells him._

 _"I'm sorry." Gormley says. "I know you could have but I had to do something."_

 _To his surprise the blond hugged him._

 _"I know you did. Thank you." She says to him._

Ever since that night he felt like he needed to protect her. To avoid insulting her he would do small things like making sure Abigail got to her car when she left or always making sure he walked on the outside of the street when they out of the office. When he found that her old CO was trying to use her to get a hook into 1PP by offering her a job he nearly went down there and tore him a new one but his boss in his Reagan way already beat him to the punch. Right then as he sat on the bench in the hospital he felt like he failed her. He should have seen the gun. He hears the door to her room open and close. He looks up to see Sean leaving. He catches up to him in hall.

"Where you going?" He asks.

"I can't do this." He stammers out. "I can't be strong enough for the three of us. I'm not strong enough. Tell Kyle I'm sorry."

Sean then tried to keep walking.

"Are you going to walk out on her?!" Gormley said his anger rising. "When she needs you more than ever!"

"She needs someone strong. Someone who will be able to take care of her. I'm not that person. Not to her. Not to Kyle. I'm not cut out for any of this. I'm not cut out to be a husband or a father. I'm not even sure I'm cut out to be a cop." Sean says as his voice shakes. "Tell her I'm sorry. She and Kyle deserve better than me."

He then walks down the hall leaving Gormley dumbstruck. As Sean walked down the hall Garrett was coming back up the hall carrying Kyle who wanted his Daddy. Garrett stops when reaching Sean to hand him to Kyle but to his surprise Sean kept walking even though his child was reaching for him.

"Daddy!" Kyle cries out to his father. "Daddy! Daddy!"

As Kyle screamed for his father the man who once responded to that name disappeared from sight leaving a dumbstruck Garrett and a very pissed Gormley.

-BB-

Down at 1PP Frank was at his desk in a very quiet office. He stared at the intercom button on his desk phone. He wanted so badly to push it and hear Abigail's voice. Sighing he rubs his head. A soft knock at his door gets his attention.

"Come in." He said.

The door opened and his only daughter walked into the room. Standing up he greets her with a kiss on the cheek. The two settle down onto the couch.

"What brings you here?" He asks.

"I came to see if you okay." Erin tells him.

"One of my officers is fighting for her life after taking bullets meant for me." He sighs. "I have your brother working to find the shooter."

"You and I both know Detective Baker is more than just an officer." Erin says taking his hand. "She means a lot to you."

"I said I'm fine." Frank responds.

"You and I both know that's not true." Erin says squeezing his hand. "I know you are trying to think of this like an officer shooting but it's more than that to you because Abigail is more than just an officer to you. She's been your right hand and friend for a long time."

"I can't understand it but something about this reminds me of.." He couldn't finish the sentence so Erin did for him.

"Joe. I know. You see Abigail as one of your children. Considering her less than perfect family history and how she trusts you more than her godfather who raised her. Whether you knowingly did or not you stepped into the place of a father in her life." Erin says.

"You're my daughter Erin." He tells her. "I'm sorry if I ever made it seem like you had to share that title with Baker."

"It's okay Dad." Erin said. "I've known since I was young you want to be a father figure to people who need it and she needed it. She still does. And after Joe, a part of you needed it to. Danny, Jamie and I have always shared you. That doesn't mean we love you any less."

Tears pricked at his eyes but he would not allow them to fall. He needed to face this like a man. Erin saw right through this manly charade and embraced her father in a hug.

"It's okay to be scared Dad." She whispers. "We'll be brave for you."

Holding his daughter close the tears he would not allow to fall before trickled down his face. He was scared. He was very scared. The possibility he could lose Baker was too real and he couldn't bare the thought of losing another child whether she was actually his child or not.

He wasn't sure how long he held Erin in his arms but he needed every minute of it. He needed to hold something that he was sure no one was trying to take away from him. After a few more moments of embrace he softly let go of her not before giving her a kiss on the head.

-BB-

"Damn it!" Danny yelled as he threw the file on his desk.

"I take we have nothing." Baez says from her desk.

"There were hundreds of cameras there and not one of them got a picture of our guy." He says rubbing his head.

The detectives had been working non stop trying to figure out who tried to kill the commissioner. So far they had nothing. No one saw anything. No got a picture or anything. The amount of nothing they were getting was starting to eat at the commissioner's son.

His lieutenant walks over to his desk.

"You need to see this." Carver says turning on the tv.

The news came up on the tv. The news anchor was covering the shooting story. The video of the shooting played in a small box next to the reporter.

"Today only." The anchor said. "We have an exclusive with a young man who was there and claimed to see the whole thing and even have a picture of the shooter."

"Son of a bitch." Danny mumbled.

The screen switched from the anchor's desk to the interview space. In one of the big armchairs was a young man in a black and white suit. The interviews starts with their questions.

"He was right next to me." The reporter said. "After the shots went off I quickly snapped a picture from my place on the floor."

"So you have a picture of the alleged shooter." The anchor asks.

"I'll do you one better." He says. "I have a source who knows who he is."

Danny kicks his chair across the room in frustration. This case just got a whole lot more complicated.

-BB-

Frank rushed down the hall where Garrett and Gormley were standing outside of Baker's room. He had gotten a call from Garrett that something had happened and that he should come down.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"We don't know, Boss." Gormley says. "A nurse just said to wait here for the doctor."

Frank noticed that Garrett was still holding Kyle. The boy had been in his care for hours now. The five year old had a grip on the DCPI. At that moment Kyle was asleep with his head on Garrett's shoulder.

"Sean walked out on her." Garrett tells his boss. "He said he couldn't do it. He wasn't strong enough for Abigail and Kyle. He said he wasn't cut out to be a husband and father."

"He's a coward." Gormley mutters.

"Has child services been notified?" Frank asks gesturing to the boy.

"They're here but he screamed bloody murder when they tried to take him from me." Garrett explains. "I already talked it through with Sarah. He'll stay with us until Abigail gets better."

Frank admired the man for stepping up for a child he didn't even know. The doctor comes out of Baker's room.

"Doctor." Frank says.

"I'm afraid the news isn't good. Earlier today the nurses were monitoring a slight fever. The fever began to spike in the last hour and jumped to 103*. She has an infection called sepsis." The doctor explains.

"What can you do?" Frank asks.

"Right now the only thing that can be done is give her strong antibiotics. We'll need consent however." The doctor says. "Are you her proxy?"

"He most certainly is not." A voice came from the hall.

Frank turned to see one retired officer Richard Baker coming up the hall. He knew this man was Baker's godfather. He knew he was the man who raised her. He also knew that he could be very thick headed.

He could only hope he made the right choices for the woman fighting for her life.


End file.
